Future's Dread
by FlameofSwords
Summary: [Post Bonds Beyond Time] Juudai was always a curious child. And while absurd, he was actually interested in what a future ruined by Duel Monsters looked like.
1. The Things You Don't Think

The sky, as Juudai could see, was a nice pale color. Hazel, he assumed, if his knowledge of colors was anything to rely on. Which was weird. From the spiel Paradox gave, he had expected more of a wasteland. Bleak sky, bleak ground. Bleak everything. The only thing that was right about his expectation was the lack of people. And while Juudai never really paid attention to what people did while out on a job, he was glad that they were there. The sounds of people talking and walking always soothed him when neither Daitokuji (Pharaoh probably refused to open his mouth to let him out) nor Yubel could or would come out. And here, none of that happened, though he was sure that Yubel would at least come and comfort him soon. She knew when he was feeling down, and right now he kind of was.

And luckily, he was right. Yubel materialized within a few seconds, right by his side like always.

"Juudai, it'll probably get worse further up ahead," she said while pointing to the horizon. Juudai didn't see anything there, but perhaps being pure Duel Spirit made her able to see things he couldn't.

"But I think it's just fine like this, you know," the little ball of light that was Daitokuji said, with fear lingering in every word he said. Juudai assumed he drifted out while he was thinking.

Juudai had to laugh at that. While he knew that Daitokuji was afraid of death, the fact that he was a harmless ball of light that still didn't pass on to the other side, there wasn't much for him to fear. Unlike Yubel, he didn't seem to have something that Juudai assumed the people here hated attached to him. So whoever else was here probably wouldn't touch him. Yubel, on the other hand...

No, he wouldn't even think about that. Yubel was precious to him, just like everyone else in his deck. If these Duel Monsters haters wanted to take them away, they'll have to get through him first.

"I think it'll be better to keep on going," Juudai said. Ignoring the protest of Daitokuji (and maybe Pharaoh with all that moving around he was doing), he and Yubel moved forward, set on finding exactly what was it with this world.

"Then I should accompany you!"

Juudai gave a faint chuckle. He knew that no matter what, Daitokuji would follow Juudai until Hell if he had to. It was probably because he was naturally curious, but the fact that he happened to be Osiris Red's dorm teacher (and Juudai was the only Osiris Red in Duel Academia) probably meant that he was doing his job as a teacher, even though he was already dead.

And the movement in his bag stopped. Pharaoh was probably contempt with...whatever he decided on, or just gave up on trying to find Daitokuji's spirit. So Juudai assumed that everyone decided that they were on board with the plan. Or at least had no qualms with moving along.

Surprisingly though, no one made a sound during the journey. He expected some normal comments, the ones they normally had while strolling through a place. Here, there was none. And Juudai could only sum it up as Daitokuji to scared to speak and Yubel paying respects to the less fortunate.

Which Juudai could understand. Like Yubel said before, it did get worse further up. The sky was still an unfitting hazel, but an unfitting hazel that starting blending with a crimson color, one that reminded Juudai of the color of blood.

And there were also the cards. As opposed to simple blank cards scattered endlessly about, there were stone slates. The name and artwork was clearly visible on each and every single card.

But they were cards he never heard of. Ancient Sacred Wyvern? Magical Android? The list could go on. Though occasionally, he would catch sight of a card he knew. And it pained him, seeing cards that he knew people used to be treated like that. How could that have happened? And why were they slates in the first place? From the fact that Paradox dueled him, Yuusei, and Yuugi with actual cards, he would've assumed that stone slates would be something not on the list. But they were...and that bothered him.

So was the future really reduced to the Duel Monsters hating world that Paradox explained? He hoped not, but the evidence was proving to be otherwise...unless he could talk to someone. But who was there to talk to?

* * *

Z-ONE was rather confident in his plan. While he heard Paradox had failed his mission, that did not have a negative effect. Because perhaps the destruction of Duel Monsters wouldn't be enough to scare people away from continuing it. You really only had to have a talent for art to create the game, and with the amount of greed humans possessed, anyone would do it just to obtain the money that came with people buying your card. And once again, Synchro monsters would descend onto this earth, people pairing that with Momentum, and leading them to the inevitable future that was Z-ONE's present. And this time, it might end up worse than the way it did now. Greed would be stronger and harder to fight. More and more people would be wiped out. and maybe the number of survivors would be only one, as opposed to the lucky four this timeline used to have.

So he would scare these humans, as humans have proven that they abandon their greed only in fear. And so the Arc Cradle, the plan that Aporia and Antinomy were carrying out now, would serve as that fear. The fear not to play with Synchros any longer or to even attempt to rebuild from scratch what had been destroyed.

And with him being absolutely sure that his plan would work, there was nothing to do. He has long since given up on trying to rebuild humanity. That was a future he signed impossible once Aporia died. All that was left was waiting for Aporia and Antinomy to move along the creation of the Circuit, allowing for the Arc Cradle to come down and destroy everything in its radius. Which made Z-ONE's days effortless and pointless. There was no need to revive Paradox, nor did he have to fix Aporia or Antinomy, for they were doing fine as the reports showed.

Which left him with free-time that was mainly devoted to his hate of Synchro monsters. Occasionally he would step outside and absorb the quality work that was the stone slate graveyard of Synchro monsters, along with other monsters of terrible origins. Practically every card was a stone slate, the only exceptions being the cards he handed his friends. And while his own deck was composed mainly of tablets that have seen better days, he preferred seeing this in Syncrho monsters because they _deserved_ it. And so maybe today he would once again see that glory. Because it was never a sight to get sick of. It was a sight that was a testimony to what he and his friends had gone through.

* * *

The stone tablets came to an end at one simple card. And for once, it was a card Juudai knew personally.

Yubel and Daitokuji were still quiet, which, in turn, explained his own lack of words. When he started, there were plenty of things he could say, each basically being the same exact thing as he would've said before, only with different words. But they weren't jokes or laughs. He actually couldn't _think_ about even the meanest of duelist laughing at this. Because this was Duel Monsters, something he owed so much to. And while maybe the people of the future didn't see it, they were actual beings inhabiting their own worlds. To stone them like this was a disgrace.

And while this card wasn't a card he has met in either the Dark World or the Sand World, he knew there was a spirit inside of it, one that had its own ideas of happiness and sadness. And Juudai seen both version of them. And he knew when it was at his happiest.

This was Yuusei's ace - Stardust Dragon. This was the card he treasured so much...that he would go through such lengths just to get back.

Why was it in a stone slate?


	2. How Wrong You Can Be

Juudai still couldn't get over the stoned Stardust Dragon. He knew Yubel had an answer, and it was the exact same thing his mind reasoned: it had received the same fate as every other card in this plain.

But still, he had to wonder why this would happen. Yuusei was bound to take care of his cards correctly, right? That explained why Stardust Dragon looked so happy to return to its owner, unlike some other cards that seemed like they didn't want to be with their owner. So why was it here…?

"It doesn't seem like the card owner matters, Juudai," Yubel said, reading his mind exactly.

And she had a point. This had to be far enough into the future that Yuusei was dead, right? So that card wouldn't stay in his possession forever...still, he knew Yuusei just a couple of moments ago, and seeing this right after he saw the owner…

"You're probably right. We should get going."

He turned around to give Yubel that smile of his - the one in which he shows that everything is, in fact, alright. It was then that he noticed Daitokuji had retreated back into the bag. Well, he was silent the entire time, which was rather weird. He would be making some noises as they walked by, wouldn't he?

"So I guess it's just - huh?"

But there was no Yubel behind him either. And it was weird to him. Yubel _always_ materialized when she was needed or wanted to come out and _stayed_ materialized. The only time she ever retreated was when the situation didn't call for her (though she would comment in his mind about various things) or like that one time when Darkness forced her out...but the latter wasn't very common, thankfully. But he couldn't see anything that would make her retreat...

"Today is a very rare day."

Juudai froze. He was used to voices - he was surrounded by voices, constantly. And yet none of them ever had sounded even remotely robotic. And yet this one did...robotic and old.

But actually rather curious, he turned around. There he happened to find the world's biggest comma and absolutely no trace of human.

"Are you the one who did this!" Juudai asked, surprised at how enraged he got. Without evidence, he would give most people a fair chance - asking them both calmly and nicely anything he needed to know. But perhaps because this wasn't a person, or because he seemed to be the only one here?

"Why are you worrying about trivial things like that? You are the future."

He heard that before. From Daitokuji and Kaiser. But their words didn't frighten him as much as this thing's did. And the words didn't even sound harmful - more reassuring than worrying anyways, but considering who, no, what it came from, he wasn't exactly surprised that the words turned out like that.

"Follow me," it said. It glided across the air which surprised Juudai - he hadn't expected something that looked so heavy to be able to simply glide across the air like it was nothing, though Juudai ended up following. Considering that both Yubel and Daitokuji were gone, he assumed it was safer to go with the one thing that seemed like it wouldn't vanish like they had uncharacteristically done. Even if it was a prime suspect for the plains filled with stone cards.

But there was always a possibility that he'd get that answered if he followed, so he had to.

"Would you at least answer my question?" Juudai asked again after a time period of what felt like an hour. The silence honestly made it seem longer.

"You will find out in due time, if all works out well."

Juudai's mind paused. If all works out well? What was that supposed to mean? Was he going to have the potential of dying? And while Juudai was positive he didn't want to die via, well, whatever this comma robot was going to do to him, he was sure that he wouldn't back away from it. At least, not now. The thing said that he was the future, and if this future was even worse than what he has seen, then maybe he'll at least try to help? He wasn't sure what effect this would have on the past...his future? His present? He wasn't good at things like this, but if it'll make this world happier, then so be it.

He had just wished that he was given more information before blacking out.

* * *

Juudai didn't remember passing out. And yet his eyelids were heavy, something that could only be done by either passing out or falling asleep. And he had no recollection of doing any of those activities. He remembered asking the robot something...what, he wasn't sure, but he knew it was something. And then the next thing he remembered was darkness. That for a really long time. But only now could he see something other than darkness. But not fully...his eyes wouldn't completely open.

But why? He remembered something being said. Something about him...a phrase he knew he heard repeated times. But what was it...he couldn't exactly remember.

He tried hugging himself just in case something bad happened. But there was only a pain, one that his mind barely registered.

Something's wrong. He was human to an extent, so he was supposed to feel and recognize pain, along with responding to it. He barely did though, which bothered him.

So he forced himself to open his eyes. Somehow, he managed to do that, his eyes focusing on the grey everything...but that blue screen with the white thing near it.

He wanted to focus on it more, but his eyelids forced their way down, resulting in him retreating to the darkness yet again. But he wanted to know what that thing was doing, maybe it'll give him answers. Maybe it'll tell him what was missing.

His thoughts slowly turned off though and his head dipped down. No, he will not sleep. He jerked his head up, managing to open his eyes in the process. He tried to stare at the thing and its blue screen, but something red caught his eye. Moving his head in motion to where he wanted to see, he noticed a red bag and a stack of cards.

Juudai didn't realize until then that he felt empty.

There was some other soul in his body...it was Yubel, he knew. And before Yubel...it was Winged Kuriboh, the one that someone...someone whose face he couldn't recall, gave to him. The last time he didn't have a soul in his body was childhood.

Once again his eyes were blinded by their respective lids, leaving Juudai in the dark once again. At least he remembered something. That he was missing something. Missing everything.

"You are an ugly, disgraceful creature."

His eyes opened instantly. They went to the other thing in the room. He wanted to say something, but he felt like he couldn't. His mouth wouldn't move, not even a bit.

Once again, he fell into darkness.

"It will be awhile before more complex functions become available to you."


	3. When Info is Only Puzzle Pieces

**Well, I honestly didn't expect this fic to be this successful, and so I guess halfway through I gotta thank everyone who at least read this, even if they didn't do more than that. It means a lot to me, especially since editing pieces that were for nano means that I gotta rewrite half of this stuff...**

* * *

Even the passage of time was something he couldn't figure out. A majority of his days were fought between being either half-asleep or asleep. He still managed to keep tabs on the thing that put him here though - it either in front of the blue screen or nowhere to be found. There were also his things which he _knew_ should move, but there appeared to be no movement from that spot or those items. And while there was the possibility that they were moving at certain times, he kind of had to rule that out. They never moved when he looked at them. And he looked at them quite frequently.

And while he wasn't sure how Yubel and Pharaoh were holding up (as he assumed Daitokuji remained inside of Pharaoh), his thoughts were coming back in an orderly fashion. Theories about what happened to his things and how he got here arrived, but they had disappeared as soon as he dismissed them as impossible. Another one took the previous one's place, but he _hated_ that. Sure, it allowed him to focus, but he could only theorize what happened to Yubel, Pharaoh, and Daitokuji. He couldn't know for sure that they were perfectly fine. And that's what he wanted to know.

But the thing that had captured him, _that_ was what he was trying to figure out. Why would it even need him? Sure, Juudai wasn't exactly the most normal human being out there, but what did it achieve by removing Yubel and not allowing him to see her?

He couldn't think of anything. In fact, he just close his eyes. He was tired again. And his brain didn't work well while tired.

* * *

Juudai opened his eyes. And they stayed open. They weren't heavy at all. In fact, they felt fresh and awake. Almost as if he didn't sleep for who knows how long. His memory also returned, something he didn't bother to think about before confirming a couple of things.

He looked around the room. There was no one and nothing. His stuff that he had been keeping an eye on was gone. Maybe he was hallucinating his things. He was tired.

But then, what did that mean for Yubel, Daitokuji, and Pharaoh? Had the thing that took him take them as well? But what did he do to them? Daitokuji and Pharaoh shouldn't be harmed, or at least he hoped. Unlike Yubel, they weren't Duel Monster Spirits.

So what did that mean for Yubel? She was already missing from his soul, which was something he definitely wouldn't stand for. But what else? He would accept absolutely nothing but getting Yubel back.

" _Give Yubel back_!" He wasn't sure what good that was going to do other than give him hope that it might do something, but he had to at least try. And he would actually get up and search for Yubel if he could. But Juudai couldn't. He was confined to something he couldn't break free from.

 _Or maybe Neos can help._

He glanced down and noticed that his deck was still in its holster. He was surprised it was still there, but he was going to attempt to do so either way. They needed him, and he wasn't going to sit there and be defenseless.

"Your eyes still turn into those wretched colors even without the demon," someone said. Juudai looked up. It couldn't be any of his cards - they appreciated _every_ card in his deck and would _never_ call Yubel a demon. He knew them all to well for that.

But it was that thing. The one that he knew removed Yubel from him.

There was a chuckle. Juudai frowned. It was trying to make fun of him, wasn't it? It was laughing at him, wasn't it? Laughing at what he had done. And that _wasn't_ funny.

"Tell me, why do you associate with those dreadful monsters?" it said, robbing Juudai of any chance to defend himself. "All they did was aid in the downfall of humanity. And yet you gleefully choose to merge yourself with them."

"They wouldn't do that!" He purposely left his eyes mismatched. This thing was mocking Duel Monsters. And yet, they were friends. They would never destroy humanity. Some might, but others would definitely _protect_ them, right? "They aren't demons."

It remained silent. Juudai had no clue what that was supposed to mean. He admitted defeat? No, he sounded as passionate as a robotic-sounding thing could about that 'downfall in humanity,' whatever that was supposed mean. So was it thinking? Yeah, it probably was. Or at least he was rethinking his view, if only a tiny bit.

"And yet, why would we label a demon an angel? What good would that do, aside from strolling into the trap set by what we did not realize was the demon?"

"They've done nothing wrong to deserve that title!" Juudai felt like he should added that he had known that first hand - he was practically surrounded by spirits ever since he got Yubel's card. But he didn't think that the robot wanted to know that. After all, he didn't seem to be in the mood to talk.

"Merciless killing. There are things that I cannot stand, and that happens to be one. And those demons did just that."

Juudai clenched his fist as hard as he could. He had done that, as much as he hated to admit. But that didn't make him a demon - he was still very loved by all of his friends. No way was anyone going to peg _him_ down as a demon.

And besides, wouldn't that make humans themselves demons? They killed, haven't they? There were reports all over the news of people being killed for numerous reasons. And yet, this thing chose to peg down only Duel Monster spirits. Well, it didn't seem human. So it technically didn't favor a side...but it might.

"And yet we've done it too," Juudai said. His voice was low - he was just saying it in hope that the thing would react to it and not put all the blame on Duel Monster Spirits. They were innocent and deserved to be loved, no matter what they looked like.

"Though we have yet to wipe out almost all of humanity. And there will never be a chance for us to do so."


	4. When Truth Only Confuses You

**Apologies for the late update - I had to rewrite this one...and the others seeing how this one turned out. Well, enjoy!**

* * *

Juudai looked at the thing, his mind trying to formulate some kind of answer. There was nothing his mind could think of to counter the thing. Because he expected to deal with minimal damage doing Duel Monster Spirits and therefore counter with the standard "not all kill" and yet…the thing implied that they committed mass extinction.

Juudai didn't know how to counter that.

And it wasn't that he didn't know. He was sure he could counter it. But he couldn't figure it out without sounding jerkish. Sure, he wasn't human by technicality, but he still cared for them. And something as heavy as the total decline of their entire race wasn't something he was going to take lightly.

"It appears you cannot phantom that ever happening," the thing said. What sounded like a sigh escaped from it, causing Juudai to look up. He hadn't expected the thing to do something like that…it was too huge and bulky for him to even assume it was remotely human. No, it _had_ to be machine.

Though, if it was a machine, it had to have some sort of origin story. Purpose for being there…or maybe living proof that robots are going to take over humanity in the future? Though if what it said was true, then it seemed like robots were the only thing this world had.

"What are you?" Juudai asked after they had stared at each other for a pretty long period of time. Or at least, he stared. He didn't think that mask allowed for it to see out, or if it even needed to see out.

"It is shameful that you throw the label of 'thing' on me."

"But you're a robot." Why would it care if it was a thing or not? Unless it had a human complex. Which Juudai could understand, but was it even necessary? Probably not, given the situation that he had seen.

What Juudai could vaguely make out as a chuckle drifted in the room. He tensed up a bit. A chuckle was some form of laughter, and it _laughing_? That was something he didn't want to even try to imagine. And yet, it was making that sort of impossible to do.

"I would say that you have more similarities of that of a robot than I."

Juudai squinted, as if that would make it any better. He saw what he normally saw though – something shaped very similarly to a comma that had silver planks coming out the back. That obviously _was_ a robot.

"Mind explaining that to me?"

"You will find out in due time," it said. Juudai gritted his teeth. It was perfectly fine with telling him about how humanity ended and yet it didn't want to tell what it knew about him. That was unfair. That was _very_ unfair.

"Okay then. What about you?"

"What exactly do you mean?"

Juudai sighed. It was playing _that_ game, wasn't it? He had to give it some credit though; robot or not it was proving to be a very smart remain of this world. "You not being a robot."

"I had thought Paradox told you about that."

"We kind of just – wait." He kept silent. He came here because of what Paradox said, but he didn't think much about his words. Sure, Juudai wasn't exactly expecting people rushing out of various places from what he remembered of Paradox's little statement. But he had taken destroyed future to mean that only a couple survived. Not enough to fully repopulate, but enough to at least attempt to do something.

Unless…

"I would not have expected any of you to pay attention to what he was saying."

"You're on the same boat with Paradox, huh?"

"You could call it that," it said. It glided closer to the table, this time away from Juudai. He tried to shift his body around so that he could follow without straining his head, but he was stuck there. "I suppose you could call it that."

"So then where are the others?"

It glided back. "They have passed away," it said when it was in its old position. Juudai was thankful for that – it meant that he didn't have to strain his eyes anymore.

"So there's no one left to represent humanity then, huh?"

Yet another laugh. Juudai frowned. The laughs, though not very loud and only a silent chuckle, were getting on his nerves. It really had to stop that.

"I am the last of them," it said. "And it appears that the future will remain bleak forever."

 _What?_ No, that couldn't be true. That wasn't human. It couldn't be. Though, then again, Paradox did say there were few survivors. Juudai didn't know how many, but he said a few. Obviously this thing could very well be included in that, even if he didn't think it should be.

And yet, even if it was human (which Juudai seriously doubted) he expected more hope. Because every threat he fought had hope that their plan, no matter how ridiculous it may be, and yet, Juudai was able to pick up some hints of sadness in its voice. Like it had given up hope for the future.

"Can't you fix that?"

"You three were the ones to prevent that."

Huh? So it did have part in that plan with Paradox…alright. He had thought that Paradox did that on his own, but being proven wrong wasn't something bad. At least for him – who Paradox was in league with was something he didn't have to know.

"Even though," it continued, not allowing Juudai a chance to speak, "I doubt that plan would have worked."

"You don't have hope?" Juudai clenched his fists as hard as he could. Someone, some _thing_ not having hope? Sure, he assumed it, but he didn't think that it'll actually be true. He expected it to prove him wrong or something like that. Not to prove him _right_.

"It faded a very long time ago."

"How?" Juudai had thought losing hope completely was impossible. You always had it, no matter what. Even if it was small, it was there. Because that was what the Gentle Darkness sought to bring. And as the bearer of it, he would not see to anyone losing hope.

"Like you, I used to have an abundance of hope. Too much for my own good. And as the ages went by and humanity was reduced to four, it faded into obscurity."

"I find that hard to believe." Both of it, actually. It having a whole lot of hope and then it fading to nothing. Because this meant that this actually _had_ hope, a lot of it, despite it sounding like it held the minimal amount of hope one could have. And even if it did have as much hope as it said, all of it fading just like that? He would expect some, but had it really ran itself into a corner?

"Then you will also find my appearance incomprehensible."

"What do you mean by that?"


	5. When It No Longer Makes Sense

Juudai stared at the thing. It said nothing in response to his question, which annoyed him. He really wanted answers, and yet the thing wasn't giving him _any_.

"You are as narrow-minded as they all are," it said, his voice shifting to an even colder tone. Juudai froze at that. He didn't expect for that thing to have modes to its voice – it was just robotic. And yet, like people, it was able to change it to fit the mood? That was hard to believe.

"All three of you legendary heroes are like that," it continued, snapping Juudai out of his own inner musings. "Only two of you lack death to put an end to that."

 _And here it's going to tell me the most outrageous thing out there._ Juudai thought. He wasn't sure of what this thing was, but it was bringing mention of him, Yuugi, and Yuusei, so it had to bring one of them into what he was saying. He assumed it was himself considering it was talking to him, but then what did that mean for him? He hated _himself_ when he grew up? Because by technicality, he was part Duel Spirit. And if this thing wanted to get rid of that then didn't that mean he had to kill part of himself to make that possible? Or to avoid sounding like a hypocrite?

"What do you mean by two of us lack death?" he asked.

"Motou Yuugi, unlike you and Fudo Yuusei, has passed on into the afterlife and now has no tie-ins with this mess of humanity."

"So you mean to tell me Yuusei and I don't die?" Well that meant something. It, for one, pretty much confirmed his theory, as much as he hated to admit. He couldn't think of a time where he would be so cruel, cruel enough to kill Yubel, but then again there where a whole lot of things he didn't expect to happen that happened. This just never made it on his list.

"To be technically correct, then yes."

Great…He was seriously going to have to question himself now. Juudai didn't know why he would even feel that way, but that just meant he was going to have to question himself a bit harder. A lot harder.

"So I guess I'm having the world's most awkwardest conversation with myself then, huh?"

The thing did its laugh again. Juudai frowned. Did he really think his younger self was something to laugh at? In fury, his eyes darted up to the mask, bent on giving him the hardest stare he could ever do. And he made sure to have his eyes be his mismatched blue-green and orange just to annoy him further.

But his eyes softened. There was a part of the mask he hadn't noticed – something so simple that he had to question how he even managed to miss it. Underneath the eye was a mark that Juudai vaguely remembered. It having one line go down and then a triangle near the top just barely making its way out of the eye. He remembered it in a brighter color, but he couldn't exactly place _what_ color.

And there was another part of the mask. The one that had a slot for the eye. It was simple, but Juudai could see into it and still have a million of questions. Because he _knew_ that eye. He knew who it belonged to and he just knew what that person would never do in a million years… And this was one of those things that made the top of his list.

"Yuusei…?"

"That name is dead. I am Z-ONE."

Juudai clenched his fists. This thing was being annoying at what it was doing, that was for sure. And he also knew things. He knew a lot of things.

"You're not Yuusei. Yuusei would never do something like that, _ever_. You can't tell me that you are him."

"You appear to have high hopes for both the future and people."

"That's my job," Juudai said. He had no clue if this thing, Z-ONE as it wanted to call itself (though Juudai preferred referring to it as a thing), knew about the Gentle Darkness. He assumed no, which explained its questioning for his hopes for everything. And that's what he needed to have – high hopes for everything.

"However, what about your beliefs in yourself?"

"That's easy!" Juudai yelled. It was a bit out of annoyance and just a general dislike for the mood. He just didn't want to see Yuusei like that, because while he refused to believe it, he _knew_ that was him, and that was ruining his rather okay mood. Especially since he wanted to talk to him like a friend and figure out why he was doing it. And yet that thing didn't _want_ to talk. It didn't want to show him Yuusei. It didn't and it wouldn't. "I'll be with Yubel and the Neo-Spacians helping people until my next reincarnation comes. Or whatever happens then."

It did the laughing thing. It really needed to stop that.

"Yet you never bothered to come and help us when we needed help the most. You just saved yourself without sparing any thought in saving humanity. That was a wise choice on your part, however, I do have to question how that means yourself will look at your future self."

"I would never do that." He gritted his teeth, and unclenched his fists before re-clenching them. The thing was spewing lies to aggravate him. And while Juudai was getting aggravated by them, he wasn't going to believe them one bit.

"When you age beyond the normal living expectations for a human, your view tends to change more than one would expect it to."


	6. When You Can Help

**Whoo, I am finished with this. And I know there are about five million questions with this thing. I know. I hope I can get to them all in the sequel though, whenever that'll come out. I'll also have to do some edits to these chapters within a week, but still, I hope you all enjoy. Also, thank you all for reading! :D**

* * *

Juudai stared at the thing. He wasn't exactly sure what the thing meant by that, but it had to be mean something, right? It sounded like it was talking from experience, which meant that the thing probably _was_ Yuusei, as much has he hated to admit.

But then why? Why would Yuusei speak like that? And why would he know about what he did? Sure, Yuusei was caring enough to make sure he was fine, but he definitely wouldn't stalk him to that level. It just wasn't right. Unless this was some alternate version…

"How do you expect me to believe all of that?" Okay, he did believe some things that were way more farfetched than this, but there was no way he was going to believe this. "I don't even know how you got that information!"

It laughed again. Juudai clenched his fist again.

"I have researched many ways to save this world. Information such as that is not very hard to come by as a result."

"Well, _I_ won't do that," Juudai said. He quickly thought of yet another answer to counter what he believed the thing would respond with. "This version of me, not that version you found out about. And since you informed me about all of this, I _can_ do something about it."

"That won't help in the slightest."

"What do you mean?" So this thing really didn't believe in anything. Not that Juudai couldn't pick that up before – it _was_ the one claiming that nothing could work, but right now? Directly after he had said what

he just said? That was just... _weird_. He offered to save enough to repopulate earth. Albeit not directly, but it should be smart enough to realize what he had meant. But no, it's saying that it won't work. " _How_ do you know it won't work? Did you try?"

"No matter what you do, humanity will still be destroyed."

"You really don't have any faith in us, huh?" He should've already known the answer by now, but he had thought, foolishly as it now decided to tell him, that maybe if he told him he'd save some, then maybe it'll have faith. Or more faith then it had before. Because while the thing didn't classify Juudai as human, he was closer to human than it was when you thought of it in terms of emotions. That had to prove _something_ , right?

"Even if they were to be saved, there is no telling if they'll ruin the world even further."

"You'll never know if you don't at least _try_."

"Trying is something we have been doing for the past decades. Trying does not work as easily as you think."

Juudai was about to open his mouth again, but the thing glide out of the room. _Doesn't want to talk, huh?_ But he needed it to talk. Actually, he wanted it to stay here. Even if it was just lecturing him on how stupid he was, he wanted the thing to stay here. It was the only way he could be sure that Yubel, Daitokuji, and Pharaoh weren't being mistreated since there only appeared to be no one else with the thing. And so if it wasn't in the room…

 _Don't think like that!_ Right, it was tempting, but if he attempted not to, then maybe…? Probably not. The thing proved to hate at least Yubel, so there's no way it could just leave her alone.

So he'd have to get it back in the room. He didn't know how though. It seemed to have a hate for Juudai's responses, at least when they involved trying. And he couldn't think of anything else to get it to stay for a long while. Nothing. It didn't want it's help, and it also didn't agree with him on anything, so it wasn't like he could get the thing to enjoy itself for once. There was nothing, _nothing_ he could do to get it back in here.

 _It did say it was Yuusei though…_ And it also said that name was dead. So did it really mean _anything_? It didn't act like Yuusei, though it sorta did with the whole trying thing. But Yuusei wouldn't give up that easily? At least, he hoped so. To tell the truth, he didn't know much about Yuusei. Some things, yes, but everyone grows up sooner or later. And he didn't know what happened to Yuusei after they defeated Paradox. He didn't know _anything_. He just knew that Yuusei, and while he wish he could say he remained the exact same way, well, he couldn't. He didn't know enough to make that kind of judgment.

But Z-ONE did. It didn't want to classify itself as Yuusei, but it was bound to know something about him back then. Whether it be first hand or the same way he found out about him.

But how to get him back into the room? Just call him? Depends on how he did it. Because there is no way he could just call it and it'll come. No way. Still, he had to try.

"Hey! Um, Z-ONE!" Using the name felt weird to him. After all, he had refused to think of it as anything more than a thing, much less who he claimed to be, and now he was using it? For the greater good, yeah, but it didn't mean that the name came easy. "If it isn't gonna offend you, um can I get some info on Yuusei? Please?"

Okay, he didn't know it that'd work at all. He hoped so, but wasn't entirely sure. It might and it might not and nothing but it coming back to the room was going to prove that. Though he did use its name. Maybe it'll respond to that?

 _It isn't a dog, Juudai._ But it was a thought he could think of nonetheless. Not like there were any other helpful things to think of anyways.

Though it _did_ appear, surprisingly. Juudai just had to stare at it when it did. He wasn't expecting it to come to him when he called and now that it's robotic self was in the room, hovering just near him, well, he couldn't help but stare. And wonder what the trigger for it to come like that was.

"Right, wasting time." Despite not being able to see it's facial expression with ease – it was hard to rely on one eye – he realized he was wasting it's time. And if he did that, well, he'd never be able to get it to come back within that minute. "I...um, well, Yuusei. What kind of person is he? Well, was he, after the whole Paradox duel?"

"I would not know that."

"But you said you were Yuusei? Shouldn't you know this stuff?"

"I do not originate from the time line you know Yuusei from, therefore I am unable to know how he changes due to events caused by me without witnessing it first hand."

"Then what do you know?"

"His desire to protect the things that he loves."

Well, at least he got information. Things he knew on his own, but hey, it was something. And he wasn't sure what good it'll do…

 _Wait a minute…_ Hadn't it mention something about living beyond the general age of humans? It did, and it sounded like it was talking from experience. Actually, it did said that he was one of the people who _didn't_ die, so…

"Do you think this Yuusei'll do the same thing you did?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Did it not remember what it said? Oh well, it just meant more explaining. "Apparently you didn't die and while I don't know why but would Yuusei the same? Because honestly, I don't want to see Yuusei like this. And maybe I can't stop you, but I can stop the other version?"

"It all depends," it said, not helping in the slightest.

"Give me a percent and I'll see whether or not I can watch over him."


End file.
